Qualcomm on Friday is introducing a new Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) chipset and reference design that should bring automakers one step closer to deploying the communications systems needed for fully autonomous vehicles.

The Qualcomm 9150 C-V2X chipset, expected to be available for commercial sampling in the second half of 2018, is based on specs from the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a collaboration between groups of telecommunications associations.

Qualcomm already has mulitple automotive partners endorsing the new chipset, including Ford, Audi, the PSA Group and SAIC.

"We welcome Qualcomm Technologies' cellular-V2X product announcement, as the automotive industry and ecosystem work towards C-V2X implementation, and pave the path to 5G broadband and future operating services," Don Butler, executive director of Connected Vehicle and Services at Ford, said in a statement.

As C-V2X standards evolve, "there is an increasing appetite to say, 'Let's test it out,'" Durga Malladi, SVP of engineering at Qualcomm, said to ZDNet. "And for that, we need a chipset."

C-V2X technology encompasses two transmission modes: direct communications and network-based communications. It's key for both safety features and for implementing autonomous driving capabilities.